Various methods and devices are used for securing product tags to consumer and commercial products. In some instances, such product tags may include tags made of plastic, metal, or other hard materials, and may include one or more electronic devices used as, for example, theft prevention devices. In other instances, product tags may be made of paper, cardboard, or other more pliable material and may be used to provide identifying information regarding the product itself. As one example, product tags for clothing products may generally be paper tags identifying such information as manufacturer, size, price, as well as other information.
Clothing product tags may often be attached to the clothing item (e.g., shirts, pants, socks) by a variety of techniques. For example, certain techniques utilize a device or tool called a tag tool or tagging gun. Tag tools often operate to create a small hole through the product and, in some cases, the product tag, through the use of a hollow needle or other penetrating component. Upon creation of the small hole, the tag tool may be manipulated to insert a fastener (e.g., nylon, plastic) through the hollow needle and then through the holes formed in the product tag and product material. Such fasteners, typically, are flexible filaments with enlarged portions on each end. For instance, the fasteners may be shaped substantially similar to the cross-section of an “I-beam.” Upon insertion of the nylon fastener through such holes, the enlarged ends of the fastener extend, thereby securing the product tag to the product material.
Tag tools or tagging guns may come in a variety of forms. Typically, however, such tag tools may include either a fixed needle or a retractable needle. In fixed needle tag tools, for instance, product material may be manually forced over the needle by the tag tool user. In other words, fixed needle tag tools may include a hollow needle secured in the tag tool and extended from the tag tool at all times. Such fixed needle tag tools, therefore, may create safety concerns with respect to possible injuries to the tag tool user as well as possible damage to the product material. Previous solutions to such safety issues may not fully address this problem. For example, various fixed needle tag tools may include a removable cap or thimble designed to cover the needle during periods of non-use. Such caps or thimbles may be easily lost or misplaced. While some caps or thimbles may be tethered to the tag tool itself by a lanyard or string, such protection relies on the user to replace the cap or thimble on the needle after using the tag tool.
Retractable needle tag tools may generally include a hollow needle that retracts into a housing or handle of the tag tool during periods of non-use. More specifically, a user of a retractable needle tag tool may initiate an action (e.g., pull a trigger or lever) that extends the needle from the tag tool and through the product material and product tag, while simultaneously forcing the product tag through the hollow needle and the resultant holes. Such tag tools, while possibly providing increased safety to user and product material, typically include greater mechanical complexity. Such complexity may decrease the reliability of the tool while increasing cost.